


Mock Salute

by JustaGibbsgirl



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Slibbs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:48:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28525734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustaGibbsgirl/pseuds/JustaGibbsgirl
Summary: An early Saturday morning with Phin.
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Comments: 28
Kudos: 89





	Mock Salute

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to start the new year out properly with some fun, playful Slibbs.  
> One-shot.  
> Thanks, as always, to coolbyrne for the advice and encouragement.

The strong dose of 7am sunlight that rarely found him, tiptoed quietly in through the glass, catching him under the chin when he rolled and reached towards thin air. Thin air that, hours earlier, had carried a scent, a sigh and a surrounded warmth from a woman who had unequivocally and unobtrusively planted her roots firmly inside of his chest...and his life. 

He made no effort to be silent as he shuffled across smooth bedroom hardwood, the smell of diner blend dark roast leading him down the stairs. The scene he found at the bottom though, stunted his forward motion, his lungs damn near collapsing for the breath that so sharply went in and out of them. 

Blonde hair tossed into a messy top bun, glasses on, sweetened steaming coffee in hand and still wearing _his_ sweats and T-shirt, she was cross legged on the couch next to Phineas, scrapbook splayed across their laps. 

The boy's rumpled hair stuck out slightly to the side as he leaned against her arm, attentive but drowsy, pajamas giving credit to the still-early morning hour. Though her voice was low and soft, Gibbs was still able to catch words and phrases as he made his way towards the pair. 

Recognizing the worn edges of the book that lay between the two, his stomach did a quick somersault. 

The fierceness with which Jack protected her military story was rivaled only by the fierceness in which she protected her child. It had taken exactly 16 months before she had allowed Gibbs the privilege of her full Army history. He had let her decide the pace, decide which details she’d bread crumb out to him.

But Phin…? Phin had accomplished in 3 short weekends what he had been unable to in over a year. Gibbs chuckled and shook his head, and when Jack heard the sound and noticed the question in his gaze, she shrugged and answered simply. “He asked.”

At her words, Phin’s head lifted, catching sight of the older man, jumping to a sitting position, excitement suddenly vibrating around him. “Jethro Gibbs! Did you know Jack was in the Army?!”

Her head tipped back, laughter bubbling out of her at the boy's spoken amazement.

Stopping in front of the woman in question, leaning down for a quick good morning kiss, tasting her coffee-sweetened, approving smile, Gibbs answered Phin’s question. “One helluva G.I. Jane as I hear it.”

The boy’s look was incredulous. “You knew?!”

Gibbs laughed outright at the drop of his jaw.

“You think I’d invite just any old civi over for a sleepover?” he said before he moved to the kitchen to grab his own steaming mug of coffee. 

Re-entering the room, he saw Jack whispering to Phin, the boy’s eyes growing to the size of dinner plates at her words. He saw the boy pull back slightly and stare at her, disbelieving. 

“Wait,” he said, shaking his head slightly. “You outrank Jethro Gibbs?”

Before she could answer, he moved to sit on the other side of the boy, nudging his shoulder as he deadpanned, “Even makes me salute her sometimes.”

Phin’s face was suddenly serious. “Really?”

Jack laughed and the sound filled the whole room, coloring the walls, breathing life into the empty spaces.

She stood, stretching, and looked down at the boy. “You really think he’d let me get away with that in his own house?”

Phin shrugged and returned her smile. “Doesn’t sound like you’d give him much of a choice.”

Reaching down and tweaking the boy’s ear before tousling his hair, she nodded towards the stairs. “Go. Chow starts at oh eight hundred."

Gibbs chuckled as Phin hurried across the room, but his laughter paused when the boy stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned back around. 

Jack tipped her head slightly, a question flitting across her features. 

Phin suddenly stood ramrod straight and raised his hand to his forehead in a mock salute.

The couch pillow that went sailing through the air missed him by inches as his loud laughter echoed back down the steps as he made his escape.

Gibbs reached for her hand, allowing himself to be tugged upward, the tractor beam effect of her smile dragging him directly to her center. 

Her head tipped to the side, eyes finding his. “You _really_ think I’d make you salute me?”

“I think,” he said, sliding her glasses up into her hair, his lips hovering just above hers, “with that smile, you could get a man to do any damn thing you want.”

As much as she was enjoying the moment, she was keenly aware of the company upstairs. "Stand down, Gunny, we've got civilians in the house."

His lips moved in closer. "I'll tell him he's been recruited an' make him clean the head."

"You wouldn't!" He didn't move at her indignation and she laughed. "You're horrible.” 

He stole a kiss as she grabbed at his shirt and spun him towards the kitchen. 

“KP duty, soldier,” she said with a slight shove. “Now, **_march_ **.”

His fingers lazily came up to his eyebrow. "Yes, Ma'am."


End file.
